"How should I reply to the director?"

This was a crucial point. Fan Xian was unsure how Yan Bingyun had contacted these hidden sentries in the past, so he dared not act rashly. He simply said softly, "Within two months, there shouldn't be any specific executor coming to Shangjing. However, I will temporarily assign someone to be in contact with you."

The old shopkeeper looked slightly worried and said, "Sir, please be careful. Although the Northern Qi's Jinyiwei can't compare to the Northern Wei's Tiqi of the past twenty years since Xiao En was captured, being in enemy territory, a subordinate must always consider the children below."

Fan Xian nodded. This was precisely why the Supervisory Council hadn't dared to risk contacting these "orphans" in the north for a year. He said softly, "Don't worry, the person I'm looking for is the one in the Council least likely to be followed."

Without a doubt, he was talking about Wang Qinian, that extraordinary talent who had only ever followed others and had never truly been tailed.

He couldn't stay in this place for long. After saying a few words, Fan Xian prepared to leave. Before leaving, he suddenly said, "Change the code for contact."

"Yes, Sir," the old shopkeeper said, bowing slightly.

"131452777."

"Yes, Sir," the old shopkeeper repeated the seemingly irregular string of numbers without the slightest error.

Fan Xian nodded, somewhat satisfied, and then returned to the front hall. He clasped his hands to bid farewell to the old shopkeeper like a merchant and didn't forget to carry the two pots of tung oil he had purchased. Seeing the merchant leave, the young shop assistant playfully said, "Boss, preparing sesame oil so early?"

The old shopkeeper looked at the only assistant in the shop and said with a smile, "Yes, it's a big deal."

The assistant thought that with their lousy oil shop, could they possibly do business as big as those oil merchants in Dongyi City, shipping cargo after cargo? A few hundred catties of business was called a big deal; the young man couldn't help but look down on the old shopkeeper's lack of ambition.

———————————————————

On the way, Fan Xian carefully disposed of the oil in his hands. He didn't dare give it to the beggars on the street, nor did he dare throw it away casually, because a crucial rule of conduct for the Supervisory Council's secret agents was never to underestimate the enemy's capabilities. Although Shen Zhong, the commander of the Northern Qi's Jinyiwei, seemed not so powerful in the rain-swept night at the brothel, Fan Xian knew that was definitely just a disguise.

After cleanly disposing of the oil jugs, Fan Xian set foot on the road back to the embassy. By this time, the sky had already darkened, and the number of pedestrians on the road gradually dwindled. As he passed the arched bridge over the Yuquan River in Shangjing, Fan Xian rubbed his face several times inside the awning, wiping off all the rouge and powder he had gotten from that lady's house and squeezing it into a small ball of yellowish-red grime in his palm.

His palm lightly touched the lion on the stone arch bridge, and the powder in his palm rustled down, silently mixing with the river water beneath the bridge, leaving no trace for anyone to find.

Leaving the bridge and passing through alleys, Fan Xian had already restored his original appearance as he turned out from the side of a certain residential building. He took off his rain hat and reversed his long gown, just like when he had parted ways with Haitang, his face clear and handsome, his expression refined.

……

……

He swaggered back to the embassy. The Jinyiwei, who had been drinking tea across from the courtyard for many days, looked at him with a strange expression. Fan Xian knew that the news of the deaths of those three nails must have reached Shen Zhong's ears, but the Jinyiwei could only swallow this bitter pill. As for when they could retaliate, that was beyond Fan Xian's consideration.

In the most secluded courtyard of the residence, under the long eaves, Yan Bingyun was half-reclined on a low couch, piled high with soft brocade quilts. Although Fan Xian had treated his injuries, the torment he had suffered over the past year could not be recovered in a short time. His body was wounded everywhere and could not withstand forceful contact, so Fan Xian had devised a way to bury him in a pile of cotton, fortunate that the weather hadn't been too hot recently.

Although he knew that this cold-blooded head of the Northern spies was now physically and mentally exhausted and in need of recuperation, Fan Xian was still somewhat ashamed to disturb him, because in these last few days in Northern Qi, he had to rely on Yan Bingyun's methods.

After a brief explanation of today's situation, Yan Bingyun looked at Fan Xian's eyes with a somewhat somber expression and said softly, "I hope Sir has not left any traces, otherwise, if all my men are rooted out, even if you are a Director in the Council, I will impeach you."

Fan Xian shook his head. "I know that the power in your hands is far more than just this one line. Single-line contact is safe, but the efficiency is too low. You must also find ways to activate the other aspects. However, I probably don't have time to handle it. I plan to hand it over to Wang Qinian for contact. I don't know what you think of this proposal."

A strange light flashed in Yan Bingyun's eyes. The performance of this youngest senior official in the Council these days could only be described as mediocre. His greatest advantage was his willingness to listen to his own opinions. However, today, he had actually revealed the Northern network in one sentence. It seemed that the other party did indeed have some ability.

"I trust Wang Qinian..." he said after deliberating for a moment, "Wang Qinian was one of the earliest to be lurking in the north."

Fan Xian was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected Wang Qinian to have done this before. He listened to Yan Bingyun and said, "According to the director's plan, we will cooperate with Shangshanhu to dig out Xiao En. However, I don't want the Council's personnel to get too involved."

Fan Xian agreed to his request, knowing that he didn't want the personnel lurking in the north to pay too much of a sacrifice because of the internal strife in the court, and said, "Don't worry, I will have a sense of propriety."

Yan Bingyun frowned and said, "Shangshanhu is a lion, but unfortunately, he can't find a place to leverage his power in this deep sea of Shangjing, so he seeks the help of the Eldest Princess. As subjects, it is only natural for you and me to act according to the Eldest Princess's wishes. However, you must grasp the measure… I believe that when Shangshanhu moves to save Xiao En, it will also be the day when the Empress Dowager and Shen Zhong eliminate the military forces."

Fan Xian knew that this outwardly cold Supervisory Council official had guessed what he wanted to do. He didn't say a word, but simply said softly, "This is exactly what I hope to see. I won't underestimate Shen Zhong's monitoring ability of Shangjing… Let them fight, anyway, it won't cause any damage to our Qing Kingdom."

After leaving the back courtyard, Fan Xian found Wang Qinian and handed down the task. Wang Qinian remembered the string of numbers clearly, knowing that in the following days, he would have to shoulder this dangerous and important task. He was not the old shopkeeper of the oil shop, he was the confidant among Fan Xian's confidants, so he plucked up his courage and asked, "131452777… Sir, this string of numbers seems to represent something."

"One life, one world, I love money, money, money." Fan Xian smiled. In the dialect of Danzhou, the pronunciation of money and seven is extremely similar.

———————————————————————

The old shopkeeper of the oil shop had good business these days, selling a few more barrels of oil. A message lurking in the dark began to flow through the dormant Supervisory Council's Fourth Northern Division intelligence network, which had been silent for a year. Before long, the spies disguised as all kinds of ordinary people in Northern Qi received their first task of the year.

Information began to be fed back through various channels, summarized through several breakpoints online, and finally sent to the oil shop in Zhangjia store.

At the same time, the Southern Qing embassy held several banquets, and the amount of alcohol consumed also increased a lot. Naturally, Boss Sheng of Xiushui Street couldn't help but run to the embassy residence a few more times and flatter Envoy Fan a few more times, believing that he had also obtained the information that the Xinyang side and Shangshanhu had been wanting for a long time from Fan Xian's hands.

The person who handled a lot of information in the middle and selected useful information from it for analysis, and finally came to a relatively accurate conclusion, was Yan Bingyun. In these days, the sound of his coughing often came from the backyard.

Fan Xian didn't have too many things to do. He was, after all, the head of the embassy, and drinking and welcoming guests was the proper way. And on this day, he entered the palace in the company of Haitang. Haitang had told him a few days ago that the Empress Dowager had invited him to the palace to discuss important matters.

Drinking was originally a happy thing for Fan Xian, and drinking with the Empress Dowager of the enemy country, whose charm remained, was not a depressing thing. But when Fan Xian returned to the embassy, all the officials and subordinates knew that he was in a very bad mood today, but no one knew why.

In the room, Fan Xian looked at Lin Jing coldly and asked, "In this embassy, am I the head envoy or is Lord Lin the head envoy?"

Lin Jing was very uneasy and responded nervously, "Lord Fan, why do you say that? The embassy naturally follows Lord Fan's lead."

"Good, good, good." Fan Xian laughed twice and cursed, "Then Lord Lin, tell me, why when I entered the palace today, that Empress Dowager actually said that the Grand Princess of Northern Qi is going to marry the eldest prince of our dynasty? This is such a major event! Why haven't I, the envoy, known about this since the mission started? You have arranged the marriage of the princess in the Court of State Ceremonial and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices these days, and I only found out that I have to send off the bride when I return!"

Lin Jing breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this was the matter, and replied with a smile, "Sir, you can't blame this official and Lord Lin Wen for this. The embassy only forwarded a personal letter from the Empress Dowager to the Empress Dowager of Northern Qi. Where would we subordinates know that the two women actually decided on the marriage of their own children in the letter? By the time this matter spread from the palace, what could we say? This matter was originally supposed to be notified to Sir, but Sir was often not at the embassy these days, so it was delayed."

Lin Jing rolled his eyes, knowing that this young director was a little angry, and handed over a letter with a smile, "The official national letter will arrive soon. This is a secret letter from the imperial court, indicating the attitude of His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, of course, they are willing to achieve this marriage... In fact, there are two more happy events that this official wants to congratulate Lord Fan on."